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CU-Boulder to ask state for $26.9M to finish East Campus biotech building

Campus planners give early approval to construction priority list

By Brittany Anas Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
04/12/2012 07:53:58 PM MDT

Updated:
04/12/2012 07:54:55 PM MDT

Graduate student Jon Langberg, left, works with research associate Kim Erickson to sort out their chemical room in their working area in the new Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnology Building at the University of Colorado on Thursday. CU is asking the state for $26.9 million to add an academic wing to the building.
(
PAUL AIKEN
)

CU's priorities

The University of Colorado will submit its fiscal year 2013-14 capital construction request to the state in July. Here are the school's top priorities.

Biotechnology building, academic wing: Construction of a wing to house labs and classrooms in the biotechnology complex. Total cost: $31.7 million. Request from state: $26.9 million

Ekeley Sciences renovation: Renovations to the dilapidated building to correct deficient fume hoods, allow for safer handling of chemicals and improve labs. Total cost: $15.7 million. Request from state: $12.9 million

Ketchum Arts and Sciences renovation: Plumbing, mechanical and electrical systems are deteriorated and need replacement, and updates need to be made to the classrooms. Total cost: $13.1 million. Request from state: $12.5 million

Completing the biotechnology building with the addition of an academic wing on the University of Colorado's East Campus tops the school's construction wish list for state funding.

The Boulder Campus Planning Commission on Thursday gave early approval to its capital construction priority list, which places a $26.9 million funding request to complete the biotechnology wing -- which is now just a shell -- as the top priority.

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"The state has not been able to fulfill our perceived obligation," said campus architect Paul Leef.

CU estimates that the total cost of the wing will top $31.7 million. The funding request will be submitted to the state in July but still requires approval from the campus chancellor and the CU Board of Regents.

CU's priority list hasn't changed since last year because the projects have gone unfunded by the state amid the economic downturn, and planners aren't optimistic that they'll be funded this year.

The university broke its biotechnology building into two projects so it could move forward without waiting on state funding to come through.

CU is preparing to debut the $160 million biotechnology building -- near Colorado Avenue and Foothills Parkway -- later this month.

The state funding request would help fund a fifth wing designed to hold teaching labs and classrooms to house the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and the biochemistry division of the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department.

Leef said the biotechnology building will have an economic impact on a state and regional level. State leaders have celebrated the project and expect the biotechnology center to help create jobs.

In the biosciences, existing businesses in Colorado generate more than $400 million in state taxes and support 36,000 workers. At CU, biotechnology research has led to more than a dozen startup companies and attracts tens of millions of dollars annually in sponsored research grants.

Campus planners have designed the East Campus to be a science hub, housing the new biotechnology building and a $100 million geosciences complex now in its design phase. The East Campus and CU research park stretch from Colorado Avenue to Arapahoe Avenue, between 30th Street and Foothills Parkway.

The new biotech building is intended to bring scientists from all over the campus underneath one roof to collaborate on complex medical problems. The building will also house classrooms and labs.

Phil Simpson, assistant director for facilities planning, said it's unlikely the project will be funded this year, and campus planners expect the cost will increase because the contractor is no longer on site.

Still, commission member Jim White said it's important to keep putting pressure on the state to help fund projects. Other projects on the priority list include $12.9 million for renovations in the Ekeley Sciences building and $12.5 million for renovations in the Ketchum Arts and Sciences building.

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